Writing-board.



I. IA iIIcnoII/ILII.4

WRHING BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED IAIIJB. |918.

Parented Nov. 5, 1918 2 SHEETS-SHED' l n.: nanars usas ca. mmmumn.. www

1.1. MCDONALD.

WRITING BOARD.

APPucATioN FILED 1AN.2B.1918.

.Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

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111 nl ll wilwllllllli@ JAMES il'. IVtclDONLl), 0F GLEVJELAND, Gli-llt).

WRITING-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratenteuiivcv. a, raie.

applicati@ area January ae, 191e. serial No. alinea .To all 'whom z' may concern:

ing able to write before l became afflicted, l

have found that the loss of my sight `has not deprived me of the ability to write Words or construct lines of words legibly, but l am unable, like all others thus atllicted, to space the lines properly, or to know where 'to begin and end the succeeding lines of a letter or manuscript, so that it presents a neat and legible document as a whole.

ri sightless person may easily write one line of a document straight and `with the words fairly well spaced, but he is at a loss to know where to begin the succeeding line or 4to lreep it parallel with the preceding line.

This is particularly true it the writers attention is diverted fromhis work :tor any reason. He is liable to run into or write entirely over what he has written before. With people who are able to see, the sense of sight guides the hand that does the writing, but being deprived of sight as a guiding medium it is advantageous to provide for some other guiding means that is dependable upon the unimpaired senses. Heretotore as far as ll have been able to ascertain there has not been provided any device that has proved satisfactory for the purpose set forth.

rlhe primary object of the present invention is the provision of a device embodying means for guiding the hand in letter writing, by the sense of -leeling, thissense being usually very acute with the sightless. The improvement includes guide means for spacing the lines and keeping thelnhorlzontal and parallel. llt also provides `for spacing the words in a line, and for spacing the margin properly for the address and it'or starting of paragraphs. s

A fur-ther objectof the invention is to prof vide a device for the purpose set forth, that is easy of adjustment, not dependable upon the sense of sight. `A device that is simple "vided with stops-,tor line and word spacing purposes.`

and durable, and `economical to manufacture.

. "lilith these objects in view the invention consists broadly oit a light, `dat board me1nber adapted to supportthe paper to be written on, suitable means being provided for removably attaching the paper to the board,

and a hand rest substantially in the form of a "l" square that lies horizontally `across the :tace ot' the paper. lhesaid handrest luisa-sliding movement guided `by the lateral edge or edges of the board, and proitinger guides and adjustable In. `the accompanying drawings which are niadea part of the specification, two embodiments or the improvement are`illustrated, and while the detailed `construction or the two devices diiters, the spirit ot the`invention is carried out in both, and it willbe un `derstood that there may be other modifications in detail without departing lromithe nature `of the invention, limitation being governed by the scope ot the appended claims. j i j lin the said drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of one embodiment ot the invention.`

Fig. isa section on line 2*-2 of Fig. l,

and Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line '3-43 'ot Fig. l. s s

Fig. 4 is a plan view illustrating a modilied construction. Fig. 5-5 oi Fig. 4, which being projected from Fig. t-may make the view appear erroneous. It will however be made clear romfthe de scription that the handrest is on the top Y face ot' the board. Fig. 6 is `a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 4C.

Throughout the several figures of the drawings and in the description, similar characters ofreterence are employed to designate corresponding parts.

Referring first particularly to Figs. l, 2

` and 3, the primary element of the device is a member, which for convenience ot' explanation will be designated as the body orsup-` `porting board l. This board is made of suitable light weight material, preferably `wood,.rectangular in general contour and of iioibicumbersome dimensions but suiiicient to `conveniently accommodate the writing 5 is a section on line paper, and the guiding attachments which are elements of the invention. s

'lhe letter or other manuscriptpaper is indicated bythe broken line l?, and is removably attached to the face of the body board 1 by any well known means, asl thumbtacks 2 Fig. 1 or by clips 2a, as shown in liig. 4. The top edge 1al and the left lateral edge 1b of the board 1 form guides for the placement of the paper in proper position on said board.

The lateral edges 1b and 1c of the board are provided with longitudinal grooves 1d and 1e adapted to accommodate the tongues 3a and 4a of members 3 and 4. The members 3 and 4 are right-angle heads connected with a hand rest or guide blade 5 which extends horizontally over the face of the board, 1, in practice the' paper being interposed between said blade and the board. The head member 3 is rigidly attached to the'blade 5 and the member 4 has a yielding connection with said blade through the medium of the screw 6 provided with a nut 7 and operating in a slot 5a in the blade 5. The `blade 5 extends beyond the yielding head 4 and is provided withv a stationary head or depending block 8, a spring 9 being interposedy between the block 8 and the head member 4. A screw 10 is threaded through the block S and bears on the spring 9, and through saidspring regulates the sliding friction of the head 4 and tongue 4a on the edge andin the groove of the board.

'A thin strip 11 of suitable material, eX- tending the entire length of the board 1, parallel with the edge thereof, is supported on and removably attached to bolsters 12, thereby forming a longitudinal recess 13 in which the blade 5 slides, thus providing means for retaining the blade flat on the paper.

The blade 5 is provided with a bead or ridge 5l.y lllVith the hand resting on the blade 5 in the natural position for writing, the ridge 5b is between the tips of the third and fourth fingers and provides an alinement guide as the hand travels horizontally overthe'blade. l

An important factor of eiiiciency of the improved device is the provision of means for line spacing, and with this end in view, apertures are provided in the board 1. These apertures are arranged in series and in planes parallel with the lateral edges of the board. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 there are two series 14 and 14a. These two series provide for at least three spacings, assuming that the holes in the 4,series 14 are one-half inch apart, and those in series 14L three-eighths of an inch apart. lThis will be brought out more clearly in the further description of the method of line spacing. 4

A pin 15 is adapted to be inserted in any one of the apertures 14 or 14a, and provides a bearing or stop for thehand rest 5, thereby governing the linespacing in the followying described manner. Assuming that it is' desired to space the lines of a manuscript equally three-eighths of an inch apart. The pin 15 is inserted in one of the apertures in series 14a and the blade 5 brought to rest on said pin. After one line has been written, the hand being guided horizontally by v the linger tips following the ridge 5"', the

pin is removed and inserted in the next lower succeeding hole in the series, and the blade brought to rest thereon, this function being repeated after writing each line, to the end of the page to be written. If a three-quarters of an inch line spacing is desired, the pin is moved to the second hole following the writing of each line, and if one-half inch space is desired the pin is used in the same manner in connection with the series 14. These operations can be easily performed by the hands of the operator guided by the sense of feeling.

As a guide for word spacing the blade 5 is provided with a series of horizontally equally spaced small bosses 16, and for paragraph and address spacing, notches 17 are provided in the ridge 5b. The hand is guided for the purpose set forth, through the feeling sense, by the contact of the fingers with the elements 16 and 17.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 4` 5 and 6, the hand rest or blade 50 is provided with a rigid right angle head 51, and the board 52 has a slot 53 which provides an out-board bearing member 54. A groove 54n is provided in the member 54, a spring 55 attached to the head 51 bears in the groove 54a, thereby retaining the said head in sliding contact with the edge 52, preferably an angular tongue and groove contact as shown. In the modification three series 14h, 14c and 14d of line spacing apertures are shown, the function of said apertures and the pin 15 being identical with that hereinbefore described. The blade 50 differs from the blade 5 in minor details of design, but is provided with the salient guiding factors 5b, 1G and 17, for line and word spacing.

It will readily be seen from the foregoing description that the improved device pro- Vides an eflicient means for facilitating neat, legible writing without the employment of the sense of sight, the simple adjustments and general operation being dependable on the sense of feeling. It will also be understood that there may be numerous modifications in design, proportions, and details of construction without departure from the spirit of the invention. And while the improved device is particularly serviceable to sightless persons, it is very commodious for letter or manuscript writing in general.

What I claim and desire to secure b v Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture a writing commodity comprising a supporting member lfor the material to be written on, an adjustable superimposed hand rest Lasalle adapted to slide on said supporting member, means for guiding said slidable hand rest, stop means for regulating the sliding adjustment of the hand rest, and a horizontal ridge on the hand rest for guiding the fingers of the Writer.

2. As an article of manufacture a Writing commodity comprising a supporting member to which the material to be Writlen on is removably attached, an adjustable superimposed hand rest slidable on said supporting member, means for retaining and guiding said hand rest in sliding contact with the supporting member, stop means for regulating the sliding adjustment of the hand rest, a horizontal ridge on the hand rest for guiding the iingers of the Writer, and horizontal spacing guides on said hand rest, said spacing Guides being distinguishable by the sense of reeling.

3. A Writing board comprising lat, rectangular member on the face of Which the material to be Written upon is removably attached, a horizontally superim posed hand rest on said flat member, a right angle cross head on said hand rest, that slides longitudinally on a lateral edge of the flat member, means for retaining said cross head in sliding contact With the lateral edge, stop means for regulating the sliding adjustment oit said hand rest, a horizontal ridge on the hand rest for guiding the fingers of the Writer, and scaritications air-1 a plain,

ranged on said hand rest distinguishable byY the sense of feeling for horizontal spacing guides.

4. A. Writing board comprising a plain., fiat, rectangular member on the face of which the material to be Written upon is removably attached, a horizontally superimposed hand rest on said flat member, a right angle cross head on said hand rest, that slides longitudinally on a lateral edge of the fiat member, means for retaining said cross head in sliding contact with the lateral edge, means for retaining the hand rest dat on the paper, stop means for regulating the sliding adjustment of said hand rest, a horizontal ridge on the hand rest for guiding the iin` gers of the Writer, and scarifications arranged on said hand rest distinguishable by @spies of this patent may be obtained for rive cents each, by addressing the the sense of feeling for horizontal. spacing guides.

5. i Writing board comprising a flat rec- `tangular board member on which the material to be Written upon is removably attached, a hand rest provided with a raised horizontal finger guide superimposed on the board, a right angle cross head attached to said guide member and slidable on a lateral edge of the board, means for retaining said cross head in sliding contact with said edge, said board being provided with series of holes in parallel alinement With the lateral edges, and a stop member to be inserted in any one oi the holes of said series to regulate the sliding movement of the horizontal guide member.

6. lin a Writing board the combination or a rectangular body member having a plain ilat i'ace; means for removably attaching sheets of paper to said face; a "l" square the blade of Which extends horizontally over the paper When so attached, a ridge on the "l square blade provided as a horizontal ringer guide, the head of said 'l'v square slidable on a lateral edge of the board body; means for retaining the head in sliding contact with said edge; means for retaining the blade iiat on the paper; adjustable means for regulating the movement of the "l" square Whereby horizontal parallel line spacing is brought about.-

7. lin a Writing board the combination of a rectangular board body member having a plainilat surface; means tor removably attaching sheets of paper to said ilat board on the plain surace thereof; a "l" square the blade of Which extends horizontally over the paper when so attached, the head of said 'l` square slidable on a lateral edge oil the board body; means for retaining the head in sliding contact with said edge; means for retaining the blade flat on the paper; adjustable means for regulating the movement oi` the "l" square whereby horizontal parallel line spacing is brought about; and means on the wll square blade adapted to be distinguished by finger touch for guiding Word spacing in the horizontal lines.

lin testimony whereof l ailix my signature.

JAMES J. MCDONALD.

Commissioner or l'atents,

Washington, D. C." 

